Tom Heneghan
Tom Heneghan is an author at Religion News Service.
All Stories by Tom Heneghan
Pew study finds continued support in Western Europe for paying church taxes
By Tom Heneghan — April 30, 2019
PARIS (RNS) — Despite a noted lack of attendance on Sundays, Western Europeans don't mind paying to keep established churches open, according to a new survey by the Pew Research Center.
Holy Week services go on in Paris despite Notre Dame fire
By Tom Heneghan — April 18, 2019
PARIS (RNS) — Holy Week services for Catholics in Paris go on in new locations while plans for recovering from the Notre Dame Cathedral fire get started with more than $1 billion pledged for repairs.
Notre Dame fire extinguished, Paris turns to assessing damage and repairs
By Tom Heneghan — April 16, 2019
PARIS (RNS) — Crowds gathered outside of Notre Dame Cathedral to give thanks that the beloved Paris landmark still stood, while officials began assessing damaging and making plans to rebuild. More than 500 million euros has already been pledged toward repairs.
Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris ravaged by fire
By Tom Heneghan — April 15, 2019
(RNS) — A massive fire engulfed the 850-year-old Notre Dame Cathedral in the heart of Paris Monday evening (April 15), destroying the entire wooden frame. The roof and spire also collapsed.
German military to appoint Jewish chaplains and open forces to Muslim imams, too
By Tom Heneghan — April 5, 2019
(RNS) — After the Holocaust, Jewish males born in postwar Germany were exempted from military service, but about 300 volunteers are now in uniform.
Shattered statues and satanic symbols mark rise in attacks on French church
By Tom Heneghan — April 2, 2019
PARIS (RNS) — Church fires and decapitated statues are among a rising number of anti-Christian acts of vandalism in France. Such incidents were up 21 percent in 2018.
Germany continues payments to churches a century after deciding to stop
By Tom Heneghan — February 13, 2019
PARIS (RNS) — The state subsidies to churches have survived due to a provision in the law that makes ending them more costly than continuing to pay.
‘Yellow vest’ protests test English-speaking Catholic church in Paris
By Tom Heneghan — December 14, 2018
PARIS (RNS) — A thriving English-speaking Catholic parish in Paris finds itself in the middle of angry protests against the government.
French evangelicals face backlash at home after success of Trump and Bolsonaro abroad
By Tom Heneghan — December 12, 2018
PARIS (RNS) — French evangelical leaders have had to distance themselves from their cousins in the U.S. and Brazil — saying that evangelical support for Donald Trump and Jair Bolsonaro hurt their ministry.
A Pope Francis gargoyle now watches over Cologne cathedral
By Tom Heneghan — November 8, 2018
PARIS (RNS) — Germany’s largest Gothic church traditionally adorns its architecture with surprising statues, but not everybody is pleased to see this one.
Eastern Orthodoxy risks split over independence for Ukraine’s church
By Tom Heneghan — October 31, 2018
(RNS) — The political significance of the decision was immediately clear. 'The (Russian) empire is losing one of the last levers of influence on its former colony,' Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said.
Jewish lobby in far-right German party denounced for anti-Muslim views
By Tom Heneghan — October 15, 2018
(RNS) — The group's manifesto said mass migration threatened Jews because Muslims were brought up with anti-Semitic views and the AfD was 'the only party in Germany that tackles the issue of Muslim hatred of Jews and doesn’t make excuses for it.'
Retired Pope Benedict accused of anti-Semitism after article on Christians and Jews
By Tom Heneghan — August 3, 2018
PARIS (RNS) Both Jewish and Catholic leaders say that the retired pontiff’s essay on Jewish-Catholic relations in the current issue of Communio suggests he harbors anti-Semitic views.
German Catholics’ confusing attempt to allow Communion for Protestants
By Tom Heneghan — July 12, 2018
(RNS) — New guidelines intended to allow German Protestants to receive Catholic Eucharist with their Catholic spouses has left the country's Catholics caught between its majority’s desire for a relaxation of the rules and the limits to change in the world’s largest church.
In Europe, religious minorities face mounting hostility, harassment
By Tom Heneghan — June 27, 2018
PARIS (RNS) — Times are getting more difficult for members of minority religions across Europe as nationalism, security fears and anti-immigrant movements gain ground.